Fastener



NGV. 15, 1938. B, PLACE, 2,136,981

FASTENER Filed MaIGh 21. 1955 37M ma/W0 en i automobile or similar trim panel, such foundation being constructed from relatively heavy cardboard or the like as is customary. The foundation 25 is provided with openings 25 at spaced intervals around the margins thereof. A fabric covering of appropriate finish material 21 covers the exposed face of the foundation, said finish material being lapped around the edges of the foundation as indicated at 28. Such a panel may be conveniently secured to a metallic or like supporting structure 29 having appropriately formed openings 3|! provided at the points opposite the fasteners of the trim panels.

In securing the trim panels the fasteners are hooked on the foundation by passing the outer arm I2 through an opening 26 and moving said arm between the fabric 21 and the outside of the foundation 25 until the fastener is firmly hooked on the panel. The panel is provided with a multiplicity of fasteners at spaced intervals around its margins. The panel is then ready for application to the supporting structure, and, in such application, the protruding shanks or entering parts of the fastener are successively sprung into the openings 3|! in the support 29 after the manner pointed out in the application above referred to.

It will be observed that inasmuch as the straight portions Il and I5 of the outer arm of the hook and the parts Il and |9 of the inner arm of said hook are relatively widely spaced apart, the fastener grips the foundation over a relatively wide area and is supported from said foundation in such manner that it cannot readily be tilted. However, in spite of the fact that the parts I5 and I9 which carry the legs 22 and 23 are widely spaced apart, said legs are maintained from relatively free bodily movement toward each other by contact of the crimps or corrugations 29 and 2|. Accordingly, when the legs 22 and 23 are forced through the perforations 30 and the support 29 the contacting crimps or corrugations serve to prevent movement of the end of the legs adjacent the hook-like head of the fastener, the rounded portion of said crimps or corrugations serving to provide a somewhat shifting fulcrum with respect to which the legs 22 and 23 move when the entering part is forced in the perforations in the supporting structure. The resistance to the free movement of the end of the legs adjacent the head of the fastener thus serves to provide a substantial resistance vastly increasing the holding power of the entering part of the fastener as will be readily understood. Fasteners having the requisite holding power can thus be constructed from wire of smaller gauge than would be necessary if the movement of the ends of the legs adjacent thehead were not prevented in the manner stated. The cost of fasteners having great holding power is thus greatly reduced.

In the modification of the invention illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and 8, the enhanced holding power of a fastener, constructed from a narrow band of sheet metal, is provided by arranging the two legs constituting the shank of the fastener so that movement of the ends thereof remote from the head of the fastener is prevented and the result, secured by the use of the fastener of Figures 1, 2 and 3, is obtained in an equivalent manner. Referring to the fastener illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and 8, said fastener comprises a hooklike head consisting of a U-shaped outer arm 3|, the straight portions of which carry connecting portions 32 and 33 which carry straight parts 3l and 35, which are substantially spaced apart as straight portions `alaaoei illustrated in order to engage with the foundation over an area of substantial extent.

The outer arm 3| and the inner arm provided by the parts 34 and 35 produce a hook-like head engaging the foundation over a relatively wide area as in the preferred form of the invention. 'Ihe legs 36 and 31 constituting the shank of the fastener are carried respectively by the parts 34 and 35, said legs being arranged in a plane approximately normal to the plane of the arms of the head. The narrow band of metal, from which the fastener of this form of the invention is constructed, is twisted at 38 so as to present the major dimension of the band of metal to the wall of the aperture in which the shank is intended to be sprung and to provide a relatively wide point of contact 39 for the ends of the legs 36 and 31 remote from the head.

It will be observed that in the form of the invention of Figures 6, 7 and 8, the legs 36 and 31 are directly opposite each other and contact at 39. Accordingly when the shank is entered in the perforation provided to receive it and contraction thereof occurs, movement of the ends of the legs remote from the head will be prevented by contact of said ends with each other. The stiffness of the entering part of the fastener is thus vastly enhanced though the legs 36 and 31 are carried by parts 34 and 35 that are relatively widely spaced apart.

The fastener is preferably constructed so that the major dimension of the band of metal from which the head of the fastener is constructed extends in a direction parallel to the surfaces of the foundation so that the fastener has a minimum' thickness between the fabric covering 21 and the foundation 25 and between the inside of said foundation and the support 29. Inasmuch as the contact of the ends 'of the legs 36 and 31 at 39 greatly stiifens the shank of the fastener, the latter may be constructed from relatively thin metal without destroying the effectiveness of the holding power of the shank thereof.

The invention may be embodied in other specic forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claim are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent isz- A spring stud fastener constructed from a piece of spring wire comprising a head in the form of a hook including two approximately parallel arms and a connecting portion, said arms being separated to grip the material to be secured by the fastener, the outer arm being U-shaped, the connecting portion consisting of two sections of the wire that are spaced apart and carried by the of the U of the outer arm, and an inner arm consisting of two parts of the wire carried respectively by said sections, said parts being each provided with a corrugation, said corrugations extending toward each other with their crests in close proximity, and a pair of outwardlybowed legs constituting the shank of the fastener carrier respectively by said parts, said legs including the ends of said piece of wire and being offset at the end of the shank remote from the head so as to freely pass each other.

BION C. PLACE. 

